This is a program which postulates, through user inputs, voltage and current waveforms for RFPAs. It is NOT a circuit simulator, and should not be judged as such. PA_waves is termed a postulator. Rather than taking a device model and a passive circuit environment, and then engaging the necessary (and gargantuan) computing resources to figure out the resulting nonlinear voltage and current waveforms, PA_waves takes a complementary approach. It allows the user to postulate current and voltage waveforms which are consistent with the device IV characteristics. It then computes the impedances required to support these current and voltage waveforms. This is a very simple piece of computation, comparatively speaking. The user needs to employ some physical reasoning in order to end up with a set of impedances (fundamental, second, third harmonic at present) which are realizable; this means eliminating negative real parts, and in the case of harmonics, ideally eliminating resistive components altogether.

PA_waves analyzes any stipulated set of RF current and voltage waveforms for:

• RF output power (expressed as a normalized dB value);

• Output efficiency;

• Harmonic impedances which are implied by the inputted waveforms.

The user first selects a bias point and a drive level, using the Ibias and Isig text entry boxes. These values are normalized such that pinchoff (zero bias) is Ibias=0, and saturation Ibias=1. So for a conventional Class B amp, Ibias=0 and Isig=1 is a good starting point.

The voltage can be constructed using...